Our society suggests that proper attire for a man includes a dress shirt and a necktie. For some time now, the trend in neckties have been towards a clean appearance, that is, one without a visible fastener. Unfortunately, a lot of necktie wearers are forced to use paper clips, safety pins and the like, in order to keep their neckties in place while at the same time, maintaining a clean apearance. Without benefit of a necktie restraining fastener, the necktie is free to waver in the wind, in food and generally become disassociated from its optimium position of contiguous alignment with the man's physique. It would be of further benefit, if said necktie restraining fastener could become a permanent part of the necktie thereby eliminating the need to take the time to retrieve a separate fastener.
Devices such as tie tacks and other restraining apparatus have been dveloped to maintain the said contiguous alignment, but there are numerous differences in the prior art and the invention at hand. The invention in hand is a non-destructive necktie restraining fastener which attaches to the back of a four-in-hand or "clip-on" necktie loop-label or to the back of the wide section of a necktie. After attachment, slots allow communication with buttons of a shirt. The slots are positioned in such a way as to insure contact with at least one button. Once the communication is complete, the buttonslot necktie fastener permits unrestrained tie movement in parallel relation to the shirt.
During the course of writing this patent, several prior patents were reviewed and have been concluded to be not identical and non obvious in connection with the invention at hand.
In Neck Scarf, Dewey, U.S. Pat. No. 1,048,393, a device is disclosed which has a band or strip comprising flaps having flexible strips with button holes. The difference between this patent and the invention in hand is that the flaps are not attached to the loop-label and the device is not semi-rigid. Another difference is that the invention in hand uses unique slots rather than buttonholes. Finally, the invention in hand, lends itself to being applied to an existing necktie in an after market situation, whereas in Neck Scarf, since this invention has to do with the necktie construction, it is not possible. Similar patents include a TIE, Weinschreider, U.S. Pat. No. 1,751,963, Neck Tie Holding Means, Miller, U.S. Pat. No. 2,749,553. In Neck Tie, Nuzum, U.S. Pat. No. 1,291,090, a necktie was disclosed having a cloth bar with a cloth strip having a button hole in one end for receiving the button on the shirt. This devise does not permit the unrestrained movement of a necktie parallel to a shirt by use of unique slots and semi-rigid material, such as the invention in hand. The invention at hand is able to be attached to an existing necktie loop-labels, whereas these devices cannot be so attached.
In Neck Tie Fastener, Shannon, U.S. Pat. No. 1,434,797, a rectangular piece of fabric is stitched onto the back of the wide section of a necktie having a plurality of button holes therein. This device is fundamentally different in that it uses a plurality of button holes where the invention in hand utilizes unique vertical slots to allow said shirt movement. The invention in hand can be attached to an existing necktie loop-label or loop whereas this device can not be so attached. The invention in hand uses a semi-rigid material whereas this device uses fabric.
In Tie Holder, Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 2,029,597 a fabric tab is positioned on a resilient member which allows the insertion of a necktie therein. The fabric tab has a button hole vertically orientated which communicates with a shirt button. The fundamental difference between this device and the invention in hand is that the device is visible on the front of the necktie wherein the invention in hand is not visible. Also, the necktie holder has a buttonhole and not slots and is not attached to the loop-label.